Lemon Chia Seed Muffins

Made with lemon zest, lemon juice and chia seeds, these soft Lemon Chia Seed Muffins are the perfect weekend treat or grab and go breakfast.

I love the texture and health benefits of chia seeds. Chia seeds add crunch as well as fiber, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. I sometimes add a spoonful to my smoothies and oatmeal, but this is my first time baking with them.

(These Lemon Blueberry Muffins are another one of my favorite lemon muffins and are studded with blueberries!)

Why We Love This Recipe

• Lemony: They are made with both lemon zest and lemon juice.
• Moist: The full cup of sour cream (or Greek yogurt) makes these muffins extra moist!
• Buttery: I tested these recipes with oil and butter and definitely preferred the flavor that butter added.
• Easy to Make: No mixer needed and the batter for these lemon chia muffins comes together in minutes!
• Flavorful: Who wouldn’t love a homemade muffin made with sweet vanilla, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest and topped with lemon zest?!

Instructions

1. Whisk to combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chia seeds, and lemon zest in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together all of your wet ingredients: the melted butter, vanilla extract, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), lemon juice and one egg.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and fold everything together. Be careful not to over mix!
4. Scoop the batter into your liners almost all the way to the top. Top them with a mixture of lemon zest and turbinado sugar and bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out without wet crumbs when inserted in the middle of a muffin.

Before going into the oven, these muffins are topped with a simple mixture of lemon zest and turbinado sugar. This mixture adds a nice crunch, extra flavor and a touch more sweetness!

Expert Tips

• Use organic lemons. I recommend using organic lemons, if possible. Regular lemons are covered in a wax coating and when you zest your lemons, the wax mixes in with the lemon zest and can dilute the flavor. Organic lemons are free of this coating, so the they have a much stronger lemon zest flavor.
• Room temperature ingredients.
• Don’t stir all the way. Be sure to mix the batter as little as possible. This will result in light and tender muffins rather than muffins that are dense and tough.
• Spray or line your muffin pan. Whether your pan is nonstick or not, I recommend lightly greasing your muffin tins with butter or of butter or non-stick spray to make sure you can easily remove them once baked. Alternatively, you can also use cupcake liners for your muffins.

Equipment

• MUFFIN LINERS: If you’re like me and are out of paper cupcake liners, just grease the muffin tin really well.
• A MUFFIN PAN: I have this muffin pan and I love it!

Instructions- Lemon Icing

To make the icing, you just stir together some powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle it over the room temperatre muffins with a spoon. You can also pour the lemon icing in a zip lock bag and drizzle it over the muffins.

Recipe FAQs

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Lemon Chia Seed Muffins

Natalie

This recipe for soft Lemon Chia Seed Muffins has the perfect amount of lemon tartness and is so easy to make! The muffins are drizzled with a simple lemon icing and are perfectly delicious for breakfast AND dessert! 

5 from 10 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 17 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, brunch, Muffins

Cuisine American

Servings 12 muffins

Calories 184 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2½ tablespoons chia seeds
• ▢ 7 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• ▢ ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 1¾ tablespoons lemon zest
• ▢ 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 1 large egg room temperature
• ▢ 1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt, room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ extra lemon zest about 1/4 of a lemon, optional, for the topping
• ▢ Turbinado sugar about 1 1/2 tablespoons,optional, for the topping

Lemon Icing

• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

 

Lemon Muffins

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• In a large bowl whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, chia seeds, sugar, lemon zest and salt. 
• To a medium sized bowl, add the melted butter, sour cream, vanilla extract, egg, and lemon juice. Whisk to combine. 
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix. Use an ice cream scoop to evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cupcake tin. (The cupcakes will be filled to the rim with batter). Mix the extra lemon zest and turbinado sugar together in a small bowl and top the muffins with it. Bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out without wet crumbs when inserted in the middle of a muffin.
• Let cool in tin for 5-10 minutes then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, drizzle with icing, if desired. 

Lemon Icing

• In a medium sized bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and the lemon juice. Add up to a half tablespoon more lemon juice if icing is too thick. Spread or drizzle over the cooled muffins. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffinCalories: 184kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 1gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 208mgPotassium: 47mgFiber: 1gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 345IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 0.4mg

Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.

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